A couple weeks ago, Sebastian Stan was on the rumored list of actors in whom Marvel was interested for the role of Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. That role went to Chris Evans, but Stan must have made some impression on Marvel. (Or he’s got a great agent.) The actor has been cast as Bucky, who is essentially this story’s version of Robin.

Deadline reports that Stan is about to sign to play the character, described as “the sidekick who fights side by side with the shield-throwing superhero.” I hadn’t thought much about Bucky being in the movie, though Kevin Feige said a year ago that the character’s appearance was ‘a safe bet.’ But with the more ‘realistic’ take on the story we’ve been hearing in the last few months I’d harbored some assumptions that the character wouldn’t appear. There hasn’t been any real confirmation one way or the other beyond Feige’s broad statement.

As with young sidekick characters, who are so easy to kill off, more than one Bucky has graced comic pages over the years. The original, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, was an orphan from Indiana whose father was killed in training just prior to WWII. He became the camp mascot, and befriended Steve Rogers. He eventually caught Rogers changing into his Captain America uniform and was trained as Cap’s partner.

This version of the character will obviously be different, and significantly older. Devin at CHUD posted a recap of one storyline not long ago that might point to what we’ll see Stan play in the film:

There’s a version of Bucky in the 90s miniseries The Adventures of Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty that feels like it would fit perfectly in this film: a brash street tough who befriends the completely square Steve Rogers, this Bucky could help Steve go AWOL.

THR confirms the casting, and says that Marvel will only say that, yes, Stan is playing the character. No further info.